Speakers at the recent Steel Meetings seminar, which was sponsored by the Chilean Steel Institute (ICHA), have warned that local investments in construction projects are predicted to decline by 8 percent to $4.772 billion between Q1 and Q2 of this year.
According to Orlando Castillo, general manager of the Capital Goods Corporation (CBC), for the total of 2022, such investments are set to decline by 4 percent from levels recorded in 2021, to $ 20.468 billion, of which 77 percent refer to projects that have already started, with the balance 23 percent expected to start until the end of the year.
He added that investments in the sectors of technology, public services and mining should increase this year, while declines are expected for the sectors of housing, energy, and industry.
He expressed concerns that the projects that have not started so far could be delayed, not only due to domestic economy and politics conditions, but also due to uncertainties derived from the impact of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia
For the long term, considering the 2022-2026, Castillo expects that investments in public services and mining will respond respectively for 39 percent and 28 percent of the total, respectively, while for energy and housing the shares will be respectively 12 percent and 10 percent.